Most Council Hopefuls In Enfield, But Not All, Faithfully Cast Ballots

October 26, 1995|By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER; Courant Staff Writer

ENFIELD — The 17 people running for town council this year are, in general, a civic-minded bunch when it comes to voting.

Nine candidates get gold stars for perfect attendance at the polls for every townwide vote this decade -- a total of eight votes -- according to available town records. (The records for the 1992 presidential election are unavailable).

Only one challenger has a perfect voting record -- Democrat William Vayda, who is running in District 1. His opponent, incumbent Republican Edward Poremba, also has a perfect record.

Six of the remaining eight candidates missed only one or two votes. Two missed three votes.

A major function of the 11 successful candidates will be to vote on the town's spending policies. But when given the chance as private citizens -- in referendums -- some candidates didn't bother.

Among the eight candidates who missed votes, all missed at least one of the three referendums held in town since 1991. Two challengers -- Republican Frank Dodd and Democrat Cindy Mangini -- didn't vote in any of the referendums, according to the records.

Both candidates voted in all the other townwide elections since 1990. Asked about their missed chances, they said they must have been busy or out of town for the three referendums: a 1991 vote on spending $18.3 million for school construction that was defeated; a 1992 vote to spend $5.9 million to rebuild Thomas Alcorn School that was approved; and a 1994 vote to spend $8.8 million to correct fire- and building-code violations at town schools that was approved.

``Prior to 1994 I had been extremely involved in my education and raising my children,'' said Mangini, who is running in District 3 against Kaupin. ``I am getting involved now and looking at the issues seriously.''

Dodd, who is running for an at-large seat, said he might have been out of town for one or more of the votes.

``What has changed between now and then is that I do have more time,'' Dodd said.

Some of their opponents were understanding about their absenteeism at the polls.

``To me it's not an issue,'' said Strom, who voted in every election. ``It may be to other people, but I would leave it to them to explain why they didn't vote.''

Egan, who also made every vote, said: ``It's an obligation to vote, but there may be extenuating circumstances.''

Others were not so understanding.

``As a public official it's your obligation to get out and vote, to show you are informed and have an opinion,'' said Kaupin, who voted in every election. ``There are plenty of avenues to go out and exercise your vote, including the absentee ballot.''

The most poorly attended referendum was the 1994 vote on fixing code violations at the schools. Seven of the candidates missed that vote, including two incumbents who were sitting on the council at the time -- Democrats Richard Ouellette and Mary Jablonski.